A short prayer text for Đại Tường

Cúng giỗ hết (Đại tường). The second year after the date of death; some sources record 2 years and 3 months after the date of death. The day before there is a rite reporting to the deities

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice
  • Address to the ancestors

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Prayer text to the ancestors in the giỗ hết (Đại Tường, the final death-anniversary rite of mourning), offering incense, flowers, tea, fruit and rice and soup before the altar to invite the spirit of the deceased being commemorated, together with the ancestors on both sides, to witness and receive the offerings. The descendants also express their remembrance of past kindness and their wish to keep up family traditions as the mourning period gradually comes to a close.

The prayer below is kept in Vietnamese, the language it is read aloud in during the rite.

Fill in before the rite

Your name and address appear in the prayer below and are kept on this device only.

Your regional custom

Showing the version used across Vietnam.

2 more blanks

How it differs from the common version

Nine sentences, no Buddha recitation; the person praying refers to himself as "con cháu trong gia đình họ"; the date of death, the burial place and the invitation to the Tổ khảo and Tổ tỷ generations are omitted; it ends with "Lễ mọn lòng thành, cúi xin chứng giám".

The common version: Prayer text to the ancestors and the deceased being commemorated (day of giỗ hết)

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Cúng giỗ hết (Đại tường)

Other texts for Cúng giỗ hết (Đại tường)

Collected text. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.

Part of the open dataset Vietnamese offering prayers (văn cúng), licensed CC BY 4.0.

More prayer textsDeath anniversaries, Tết, the home, business, life-cycle rites and regional rites.